May 2018 – Nanoscale Horizons blog

Archive for May, 2018

QD2018, the Tenth International Conference on Quantum Dots

24 May 2018

QD2018 is the Tenth International Conference on Quantum Dots, the leading conference on quantum dot research and it will be held in Toronto, Canada from 25-29 June 2018. QD2018 will gather 500 of the world’s leading quantum dot researchers from epitaxial, colloidal, and lateral quantum dot communities.

Topics will include:

Fundamentals – Quantum Dot Theory, Quantum Dot Spin, Analytical Techniques, Quantum Optics and Magneto-Optics, Quantum Dot Coherence, Exciton/Charge Carrier Dynamics.
Materials – Hybrid Quantum Dot Systems, Material Growth and Fabrication Techniques, Emerging Materials and Synthesis, Nanoplatelets and Superstructures.
Applications – Energy Harvesting, Sensors and Detectors, Light Emission, Quantum Information Technology and Quantum Computing, Bio Applications.

And the list of confirmed speakers so far is below:

Plenary Speakers

Dmitri Talapin (University of Chicago)
Xiaoyang Zhu (Columbia University)
Manfred Bayer (Dortmund University)
Yasuhiko Arakawa (University of Tokyo)
Victor I. Klimov (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Invited Speakers

Akira Oiwa (Osaka University)
Sohee Jeong (Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials)
Maurice Skolnick (University of Sheffield)
Zeger Hens (University of Ghent)
Liberato Manna (Italian Institute of Technology)
Jacek Kasprzak (CNRS France)
Horst Weller (University of Hamburg)
David J. Norris (ETH Zurich)
Eva Monroy (CEA Grenoble)
Edo Waks (University of Maryland)
Maksym Kovalenko (ETH Zurich)
Emily Weiss (Northwestern)
Osman Bakr (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology)
Hunter McDaniel (UbiQD)
Hilmi Volkan Demir (Nanyang Technological University)
Cherie Kagan (University of Pennsylvania)
John Rarity (University of Bristol)
Armando Rastelli (Johannes Kepler University Linz)
Jelena Vuckovic (Stanford University)
Jason Petta (Princeton University)
Vladimir Bulovic (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Patanjali Kambhampati (McGill University)
Eunjoo Jang (Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology)
Gerasimos Konstantatos (ICFO – The Institute of Photonic Sciences)

Materials Horizons, Nanoscale Horizons, and Nanoscale are delighted to provide support for QD2018. Visit the conference website for full information about how to register.

Comments Off on QD2018, the Tenth International Conference on Quantum Dots

Congratulations to prize winners at 16th Annual Meeting of Society of Nano Science and Technology

23 May 2018

We are delighted to congratulate two prize winners from the 16^th Annual Meeting of Society of Nano Science and Technology, organized by The Society of Nano Science and Technology, which was held at the University of Tokyo from 10 – 12th May, 2018.

Nanoscale Horizons prizes were awarded by Hiromitsu Urakami, RSC Manager in Japan, to two faculty members:

Professor Hiro Minamimoto (Hokkaido University) for his talk on: Higher-order Plasmon-induced Electron Transfer Reactions
Professor Shinobu Sato (Kyushu Institute of Technology) for her talk on: DNA bundling using supramolecular interaction

From left to right: Professor Minamimoto, Hiromitsu Urakami, Professor Sato

Comments Off on Congratulations to prize winners at 16th Annual Meeting of Society of Nano Science and Technology

pH-Triggered self-assembly and hydrogelation of cyclic peptide nanotubes confined in water micro-droplets

21 May 2018

Supramolecular polymers are promising architectures for different applications in the materials or biological fields between others. Their inherent dynamicity and versatility give to these materials interesting application-related properties but at the same time make their construction intricate. The control over these assembly processes of supramolecular polymers is still nowadays a big challenge to overcome. Therefore, there is a need of new methods that shed light in the understanding of the supramolecular driven assembly processes in different situations.

In a recent study reported in Nanoscale Horizons, Montenegro et al. conveniently employed water micro-droplets to investigate the assembly of tubular peptidic nanotubes in a confined space. They employed cyclic peptides decorated in one hand with histidine that confer the system a pH-responsive self-assembly and in the other hand with a pyrene moiety that serves as a fluorescent reported of the fibrillation process.

Figure 1. a) Structure and pH-dependent self-assembly of the cyclic peptide (CP1) b) Histidine hydrogen-bonded networks and pyrene p-stacking driven aggregation of single peptide nanotubes by hierarchical micro-fibrillation. c) Supramolecular polymerization of CP1 in confined spaces [(i) CP1 in water (1–2% w/w); (ii) CP1 (1–2% w/w) in HEPES 30 mM at pH 8; (iii) addition of propanamine] shown in epifluorescence images and confocal microscopy projections of individual droplets. Scale bars from left to right are 20, 5 μm, and 10 μm. Images reproduced with permission of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The observed deformation of the droplet upon basic pH trigger was produced by the strong directional self-assembly reflecting the strong directionality of the process. These findings with the one-dimension hierarchical assemblies open the possibility to a better comprehension of the physics and mechanism involved in the assembly of tubular networks in confined environments. Moreover, the reported system can already serve as a platform to further study such assembly processes in a biological scenario and eventually be applied for several biomedical purposes like drug delivery.

pH-Triggered self-assembly and hydrogelation of cyclic peptide nanotubes confined in water micro-droplets

Alejandro Méndez-Ardoy, Juan R. Granja and Javier Montenegro

Nanoscale Horiz., 2018, Advance Article.

Article written by Dr. Julián Bergueiro Álvarez (Freie Universität Berlin). His current research is focused on thermoresponsive helical poylmers, polymer-gold nanoparticle supramolecular assemblies, and thermoresponsive nanogels as novel drug delivery nanocarriers. Find out more about his work on his website (http://www.nanominions.com/) and on Twitter (@nanominions).

Comments Off on pH-Triggered self-assembly and hydrogelation of cyclic peptide nanotubes confined in water micro-droplets

9th International Nanomedicine Conference

16 May 2018

Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Nanoscale Horizons and Materials Horizons are proud to support the 9th International Nanomedicine Conference.

The International Nanomedicine Conference is regarded as the most significant nanomedicine meeting in the Southern Hemisphere, taking place annually at our local beach, Coogee Beach Sydney. This event will be brought to you by the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine (ACN) and the ARC Centre for Bio-Nano Science (CBNS). The conference aims to showcase great research, in an environment conducive to networking with colleagues from around the world.

Visit the website to find out more! http://www.oznanomed.org/

Comments Off on 9th International Nanomedicine Conference

Nanoscale Horizons blog

Archive for May, 2018

QD2018, the Tenth International Conference on Quantum Dots

Congratulations to prize winners at 16th Annual Meeting of Society of Nano Science and Technology

pH-Triggered self-assembly and hydrogelation of cyclic peptide nanotubes confined in water micro-droplets

9th International Nanomedicine Conference

Links

Categories

Archives

Meta